1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor design technology, and, more particularly, to an image sensing device and a method for operating the same capable of supporting a binning mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the demand for digital cameras has explosively increased with the development of visual communication using the Internet. Moreover, as mobile communication terminals mounted with a camera, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), an International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) terminal, and a code division multiple access (CDMA) terminal have become popular, the demand for small-sized camera modules has increased.
A camera module basically includes an image sensor. In general, an image sensor refers to a device which converts an optical image into an electrical signal. A charge coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor are also widely used as an image sensor.
The CCD has a complicated driving scheme and high power consumption. Furthermore, since the number of mask processes is relatively large in the fabrication thereof, processing may be complex. In addition, since a signal processing circuit may not be realized in a chip, it may be difficult to realize the CCD in one chip. In the CMOS image sensor, however, the monolithic integration of control, driving, and signal processing circuits in a single chip is possible. Accordingly, attention has recently been paid on the CMOS image sensor. Also, the CMOS image sensor latently incurs a low cost due to a low voltage operation, low power consumption, compatibility with peripheral devices and the efficiency of a standard CMOS fabrication process when compared to the existing CCD.
Meanwhile, the number of pixels in the image sensor, i.e., a resolution, may be increased according to the development of technology, and the increased resolution may induce the amount of data to be processed. Accordingly, the image sensor supports a binning mode. In the binning mode, an image may be formed based on single information, which is collected by summing information of neighboring pixels, not by summing information of all pixels provided in the image sensor.